Once a mobster, now Masachika Kuze

Ryuuguu Rena. A sweet, polite girl with a slightly goofy demeanor. But make no mistake: she is intelligent, strategic, and always knows what she's doing.

Now, that same Rena stood before them, transformed. Standing next to a decapitated body, she held a blood-stained cleaver dripping onto the floor. Her white dress, adorned with a purple sash, was now sullied with grime and dark red blood, a stark contrast to the horror emanating from her. The pristine cap and black thigh-high socks, complemented by brown boots, seemed utterly out of place in the gruesome scene.

The silence hanging over the shrine was broken by Rika's icy voice.

"Rena... You, of all people, are the one to throw me toward my cruelest fate..."

Rena scratched her neck, keeping her gaze down. When she finally looked up, her once bright blue eyes now gleamed with a feline, predatory glint. The warmth and innocence they once held were completely gone.

Sensing the rising tension, Ryan tried to divert her attention.

"Hey, cleaver girl!" he shouted, stepping forward.

Rena turned to face Ryan, her narrowed gaze delivering a clear warning that she wasn't in the mood for games.

"What is it, Masachika? Spare me your useless words." Her voice, once sweet, was now cold and sharp.

Ryan smirked confidently as he stepped closer. The motion made Rena raise the cleaver, ready to strike, but she didn't realize it was a distraction. In the next instant, Yuno appeared at her side, delivering a violent kick to her ribs.

The force of the blow sent Rena flying several meters away.

"Damn, Pinkie! Did you really have to hit her that hard?" Ryan said, his usual playful tone intact.

Yuno narrowed her eyes, irritated. "Did you expect me to be gentle with her? Don't be an idiot. If you die, you'll just slow me down."

Meanwhile, Ryan scanned the area for Rika. He found her curled up beside a stall, watching the scene with a vacant and disturbed expression. He and Yuno approached her, and Ryan, surveying the chaos around them, couldn't resist a jab.

"Wow, Rika. Looks like your dance brought a bloodbath of a festival, huh?"

Rika clenched her fists, her voice filled with anxiety and frustration. "How could this happen, Masachika? Why did Keiichi advance to the final stage of the Nothing Syndrome?" Her eyes trembled, and her breathing was rapid.

Ryan scratched his head, exhaling. "Ah... Good question. I thought you were the expert here. Has nothing like this happened in any of your loops?"

Rika shook her head. "Not like this. And I've never seen Ooishi affected by the syndrome this way."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Great... Rena's already sent two to the afterlife. The deaths might be covered up, but... her mind..." He looked up at the sky, tired, before something clicked.

"Shit! Keiichi! We need to stop his bleeding before it's too late!"

He turned, searching for Keiichi, but froze mid-step, his eyes wide. The scene before him took him completely off guard.

Rena was standing again.

Despite Yuno's brutal kick, the girl had not only gotten back up but was now beside Keiichi. The cleaver was dangerously close to the boy's neck, who was already losing a significant amount of blood. Rena, her expression cold, spoke:

"You're strange, Yuno. Disappearing and reappearing out of nowhere... not to mention your absurd strength. I think you broke a lot of things inside me with that kick."

Despite her words, Rena appeared eerily unharmed, save for the intense scratching at her neck.

Rika tried to appeal to her friend's emotions, her childlike voice laden with despair. "Rena! Please stop this! We need to help Keii—"

"Don't give me that crap, Rika," Rena interrupted with disdain. "I'm past the point of no return. Keiichi saw too much... so his death wouldn't be a problem."

Ryan stepped forward cautiously, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Look... I don't know exactly what Keiichi saw, but silencing him won't change anything, will it? Especially since you just chopped off a detective's head."

Rena responded coldly: "You could all be silenced as well."

Noticing Yuno's watchful gaze, Rena pressed the cleaver closer to Keiichi's neck, threatening, "If you try that trick of disappearing, I'll sever his head."

Rena pressed the blade against Keiichi's throat, who was already teetering on the edge of death.

Yuno smirked darkly, provoking, "Alright, little girl. Let's see who's faster."

In a flash, Yuno teleported above Rena, delivering a kick that echoed through the shrine. But to her surprise, Rena wasn't thrown back this time. The girl swung the cleaver, narrowly missing Yuno before she hit the ground.

Yuno managed to evade, spinning her body with agility. Despite her lightness and speed, something was wrong.

"This resistance... Does the syndrome enhance the infected?" Yuno muttered, already pulling a hidden knife from her sock.

Ryan, watching the scene unfold, turned to Rika, seeking an explanation.

Rika seemed just as bewildered. "I... don't know. The syndrome messes with the mind and makes a person ignore pain due to madness, but... that kick... that's not normal."

Ryan chuckled nervously. "Normal? That kick would've taken anyone's head off. I'm sure of it."

Yuno positioned herself closer to Keiichi, her eyes fixed on the boy as she assessed the gravity of his condition. Blood continued to flow, pooling beneath him. But before she could act, Rena lunged forward, her cleaver gleaming red in her hand.

The girl charged, aiming an upward strike, but Yuno stayed composed. Her gaze was as cold as Rena's, almost inhuman. With calculated precision, she raised her knife, meeting the cleaver's edge. The blade deflected, sliding with a metallic screech that shattered the deadly silence. Taking advantage of the opening, Yuno stepped forward and, with a sharp move, delivered an elbow strike straight to Rena's face. The impact was brutal, breaking the girl's nose.

Without giving her time to recover, Yuno skillfully brought her down, pinning her chest with her knee and gripping Rena's neck with relentless force.

Meanwhile, Ryan wasted no time. Rushing to Keiichi's side, he knelt by the boy, examining his dire condition. "Damn, he's already lost too much blood..." he muttered, frustration thick in his voice.

Yuno, however, continued to choke Rena, her eyes brimming with icy determination. It was as if she had decided to end it all right there. Ryan, sensing the danger, raised his voice.

"Yuno! Just knock her out! We don't need to kill her now!"

Ignoring Ryan's desperate tone, Yuno responded with her usual coldness:

"She won't just fall asleep, you idiot."

Ryan clicked his tongue in irritation and pressed on:

"Look, listen, we need her alive to get more information. We can use it when we go back in time, understand what made the syndrome advance so quickly. Maybe Rena and Keiichi are the keys to that."

Yuno cast a reluctant sideways glance at him but ultimately relented. With a firm punch, she knocked Rena unconscious. The girl slumped to the ground, her body limp.

Ryan raised an eyebrow and sarcastically quipped:

"Poor thing, with such a sweet little face, and you go and do that. Such cruelty, Pinkie."

Yuno rolled her eyes and stood up, clearly out of patience. As she knelt to stop Keiichi's bleeding, she used the ribbon from her outfit as an improvised tourniquet.

Ryan, of course, couldn't resist another jab:

"Wow, in that little black dress, you're quite the temptation. You didn't even have to bend down so much to win me over, you know?"

Yuno froze for a second, her eyes narrowing. She lifted her gaze to Ryan, and the piercing glare she shot at him was enough to make even him hesitate for a moment. But, without losing his tone, Ryan simply raised his hands in surrender.

"Just saying, Pinkie."

Before the argument could escalate, a voice full of hatred echoed, cutting through the moment.

"You bitch, get your hands off him!"

The sharp crack of a gunshot followed, splitting the air. Yuno reacted swiftly, teleporting out of the bullet's path, but not before it grazed her chest, leaving a shallow cut and a streak of blood.

Reappearing a few meters ahead, her expression had grown more serious. Turning toward the direction of the shot, Yuno spotted Mion. The girl's gaze was consumed by the same disturbing emptiness that had overtaken Keiichi, Ooishi, and Rena. Recognizing it, Yuno let out a bitter, genuine remark:

"Bitch..."

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